


we are diamonds taking shape

by timefornothing



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, idk what this is tbh, kwami lore, the original characters are pretty fun and they teach chat and ladybug a lesson in teamwork, there's more to it than just chat and ladybug, theres an akuma attack when they go to school of course
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-09-24 18:56:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9780581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timefornothing/pseuds/timefornothing
Summary: "So...we're not alone?" Marinette said quietly, still looking up at the night sky above her. The stars twinkled back silently as Sofia shifted next to her."Well, technically, right now you are. Because Hawkmoth has the other ones."Marinette snapped her head to look over at her, but Sofia pushed on, smile bright and reassuring. "But don't worry! That's what Scorpion and I are here for. We're here to help you retrieve them and get them back!"Or, two miraculous holders from the US show up and teach Ladybug and Chat Noir that there's a lot more to this hero business than just the two of them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> couple things:
> 
> this doesn't follow the canon timeline at all, nor does it really follow the canon rules. its a fic, i made it all up. (: they've been doing this for two years, so they're 16 now and pretty good at it--or so they THINK.
> 
> okay that's it enjoy

"Chat! He's going that way!"

"On it, M'lady! _Oof!"_

Ladybug groaned in frustration as Chat Noir was knocked out of the air once more by one of the wayward paper airplanes. Couldn't that cat ever keep an eye on his surroundings?

"Nice try, Ladybug!" The akumatized villain called, whirling a paper crane around their fingers. "But you'll never catch up if you keep trying the same old tricks!"

"Same old tricks, huh?" Ladybug muttered to herself, then stood up straight, swinging her yo-yo around quickly. "That was the last straw, Notetaker! Get ready to--" Ladybug cut herself off, frowning. What was that weird whining noise?

On the ground, Chat Noir looked up as well, ears perked. "What _is_ that?"

Ladybug glanced around for the source of the noise, and squinted when she spotted--Chat would be proud of that pun--a large grey and white speck moving towards them in the sky. 

"Is that someone screaming?" Notetaker asked incredulously, also pausing. Chat's nose turned up.

"Are they yelling at us?"

Ladybug stood straighter, and within a second, she could see the thing coming towards them was in fact a person--and they were yelling. Loudly.

 _"Save your charm thing! Don't waste it!"_ They shouted, and in another second, they went rocketing past Ladybug and slammed into Notetaker at full speed, sending the two flying thirty feet back before slamming into the ground and launching a huge cloud of dirt and dust flying up into the air of the park.

Chat Noir turned and gaped at Ladybug, whose eyes were wide as well. After a second, she shook her head, gesturing over her shoulder. "Come on, we should see whatever the heck that was."

"After you." Chat stammered, eyes as wide as dinner plates. Cautiously, they trotted over, stopping at the edge of the hole. Down inside, the grey and white person who had appeared was standing, laughing as they tossed their long ponytail over their shoulder.

"Nice throw, Scorp! That was the fastest I've gone yet!"

As if on cue, someone dropped out of the sky behind them, and Ladybug and Chat jumped at the same time, immediately dropping into defensive positions as they took in the person before them.

He was a few inches taller than Chat, but as far as Ladybug could tell, he couldn't have been more than a year or two older than the other heroes, which put them all at around 16. He was in a skintight black suit much like Chat's, although his was mostly padded armor around his middle, arms and legs. His mask swept up the sides of his face, giving an angular look to his pointed nose and black eyes peering out from behind them. He had close-cropped black hair, and Ladybug was about to think he was kind of attractive when she noticed something that caught the light on his chest.

Her eyes widened as she looked at the brooch. Another miraculous?

The boy sniffed, drawing her attention back to his face, and she could see him eyeing her earrings before looking to Chat's ring. He blinked twice, then said in heavily accented French, "Oh. You're both here."

"Of course they're both here!" 

Ladybug turned quickly so that she could keep both the newcomers in sight. Climbing out of the hole was the one screaming from before, and now, Ladybug could see she was another girl around her age, medium brown hair resting above a well-tanned face. Her amber eyes sparkled from beneath her black mask, giving her a mischievous look. Her bodysuit was grey except for her black forearms and mid-rise boots, and there were thick black arrows wrapping around her thighs and upper arms. Two grey and white ears perked up as she spotted the rest of them looking at her, and she folded her arms over her white chest. "Where else would they have been?"

While her French wasn't as heavily accented, it was still easy to tell she wasn't a native speaker. Ladybug glanced to Chat Noir, who seemed to be on the same train of thought as her as he asked, "Is that an American accent?"

"US of A, born and raised." The new girl mock bowed, and for the first time, Ladybug caught sight of a fluffy tail behind her--one that reminded her all too much of Volpina's. Instantly on guard, she narrowed her eyes as the newcomer grinned at Chat. "And you have the Cat miraculous."

Before Chat could even think of responding, a rumble ripped through ground, and the four of them turned to see Notetaker rising out of the hole, an army of paper birds fluttering in the air all around him. "You think a simple tackle can stop me? Ha! Paper beats rock every time!" With that, the birds dove at them, and everyone rolled away and out of the line of fire.

"The akuma's gotta be in his belt!" Ladybug called, and then startled, locking eyes with the new girl, who had just shouted the exact same thing. Grinning, the girl called over to her, "I like your style, bug." Ladybug flushed, then jumped out of the way of the birds, swinging her yo-yo in a tight loop around her. Across the way, the other three were fighting similarly.

"Enough flirting." The boy in the dark clothes practically growled, and he glanced at the girl. "Get it over with."

"I agree." Chat Noir grinned instead, and then shoved his fist in the air and shouted, "Cataclysm!"

"No, wait!" The new girl smacked herself in her forehead as she dodged a few more paper birds. "I was trying to tell you to save them!"

"Too late." New Guy grunted, then grabbed Chat by the back of the neck.

"Whoa, what--" He whimpered, and then New Guy threw him at Notetaker, whose eyes widened, but there wasn't enough time to do anything. Chat readjusted himself mid air and swiped at the belt just in time.

"Got a thing for throwing people?" Ladybug half asked herself, but the boy smirked in response, and then New Girl was sprinting past them to grab the belt as it hit the ground. She was quick, light on her feet despite her curvy build, dodging the birds with ease as she rolled to a stop. Reaching inside the pocket for the papers, she tore them all quickly, and Ladybug's eyes lit up as she spotted the akuma fly out of the shreds on the ground. She reached to throw her yo-yo, but the new girl waved a hand, stopping her. "No wait! Let me show you!"

The girl jumped into the air, grabbing the akuma with both hands, and when she landed, they began glowing with a bright white light, the way Ladybug's yo-yo glowed. In English--which Marinette just barely understood, and even still, she's not quite sure she totally understood--the girl said, _"Purificate!"_

When she released the butterfly, it was once again a pure white, and Ladybug could feel the astonishment on her face showing as the girl called after it, "Bye bye, little butterfly!" Instantly, soft grey butterflies zoomed around, filling in the hole in the ground and whisking away all of the folded paper animals that littered the ground. Ladybug watched as the akumatized person was returned to normal, and swallowed hard as everything returned to normal. Warily, she looked back to Chat, who was staring with an amazed look.

"Holy crap!" Chat came running over as they made eye contact, dirt still streaked on his knees from where he had landed. "I thought you were the only one who could do that!"

Ladybug nodded, turning to look at the newcomers. Now that she was looking for it, she spotted a silver anklet on the new girl. "So did I."

"That's what we're here to explain!" The girl called back, now in French, as she and her friend walked closer. "We came to help you!"

"Help us?" Chat asked in surprise, and Ladybug frowned. "Who are you?"

"We--" The boy started, but was interrupted by the girl, who threw her arms out in front of them in a dramatic fashion.

"We are two miraculous holders from the southwest United States! May I introduce to you Scorpion and Coyote!" She gestured to the boy and herself, respectively. "We've traveled far and wide, and now we are here to assist you in retrieving your lost miraculouses!" She shook her hands in a jazz fashion, smiling brightly.

Chat and Ladybug stared back at them, both silent and open-mouthed. After a second, the girl's arms dropped a little. "Was that too enthusiastic?"

Chat squawked first. "There's miraculous holders in the US?"

The tall boy--Scorpion--made a face while the girl--Coyote--snorted. "Uh, yeah? They're all over the world, so why not in the US?"

Ladybug startled. "They're all over the world?"

Now the two stared at her, surprise clearly on their faces. Scorpion mumbled something in English, and Coyote looked back at him with her brows furrowed. After responding, she turned back, picking back up in hesitant French. "Yeah. It's, uh, it's not...shoot, how do you say..it's a whole world thing. It's all over. Um. It's--It's not just central to you!" She smiled crookedly. "Sorry, the miraculous doesn't translate everything. We still gotta do some work, you know!"

Chat's jaw dropped further, if that was possible. "Your miraculous can translate things?!"

Scorpion's frown deepened while Coyote nodded eagerly. "Yeah! It's so we can all talk to--we can all communicate. All of the miraculous holders. Haven't you ever noticed you can understand practically any language if you listen hard enough?" Ladybug and Chat looked at each other, Marinette clearly remembering how she had had to ask a classmate for help when she wanted to talk to her uncle in Chinese.

"Sports." Scorpion grunted, and Coyote gestured to him while she explained. "And you're extra athletic! Or creative! Your miraculous grows--it makes your natural talents stand out that much more! It takes your biggest personality traits and--shoot." She frowned, clearly frustrated at not being able to explain correctly. Marinette got the feeling that if they were speaking English, Coyote would have a huge vocabulary. "Basically, it makes you the best you that you can be. But that's a whole different problem, if we have to help with explaining that." Coyote looked back to Scorpion with a worried face, who stared back at her with the same blank frown.

"Yeah, about that." Ladybug took a couple steps forward, Chat not far behind. The two looked back at her, their movements so much in sync that it kind of creeped her out. "You said you're here to help us retrieve our lost Miraculouses?"

"Which implies that there are more than just the two of us." Chat followed up, and for once, seemed to be taking things seriously. As confused as she was, Ladybug was immensely grateful he had her back, just like he always did.

Coyote and Scorpion stared back silently, and Ladybug waited a few seconds before prompting, "Well? Are there supposed to be more of us?"

Coyote sighed, putting her hand on her head and resorting back to English. "Shit, we got some work to do."

"Well, I understood that." Chat snorted under his breath, then they both jumped as his ring beeped. After a glance, they saw he was down to only two toes left. "Ah, I've got to get going."

"Yeah, we can head back to your gym and figure all the details out there." Coyote agreed, taking a couple steps towards Chat. "Wouldn't want you to transform back in front of random people." She gestured to where a police officer was now helping the citizen who had been akumatized. "Lead the way!"

"Our gym?" Chat blushed, holding his hand closer to his chest. At Coyote's confused frown--which was this close to becoming her permanent resting face, Scorpion responded.

"The place where you two meet. Train, practice." He lifted an eyebrow below his mask, and Ladybug shot Chat a look.

"Oh, we don't--we don't meet up outside of work." She looked back to the two. "We go out on patrols most nights, but otherwise we don't meet up unless there's an akuma attack."

"So, do you text each other out of uniform then?" Coyote prompted, and Ladybug blushed this time.

"No, we don't know each other's identities. Isn't that the whole point of being a masked hero?"

 _"You don't know each other's identities?!"_ Coyote screeched, and a few heads in the crowd behind them turned. Ladybug panicked, but Coyote continued flailing her arms around, no doubt drawing Alya's attention from where she was filming from behind police tape. "How do you trust each other? How do you strategize? How can you possibly work together when you don't even know the basics?!"

"Milady…" Chat warned as his ring beeped again, and Ladybug glanced around quickly, trying to think of something. Would her lucky charm even work on a situation like this?

"Look, you've got to fill us in on some things, that much I get. Can we meet up later? After we recharge?" The look Scorpion was giving her obviously meant that wasn't an option. "Okay, okay, alright. Then...Then you'll just have to go home with us. Explain it individually, and then we'll meet up again. How's that?"

Coyote shared a quick glance with Scorpion, then nodded to Ladybug. Clearly, they didn't need to speak to understand each other. "Yeah, that'll work." She took a step towards Chat, but Ladybug grabbed her by the arm, ignoring the weird look Chat gave her. Coyote made a similar face, but waved forward to Ladybug. "Lead the way, bug!"

"Till next time, Milady!" Chat waved quickly, then went sprinting off, pulling out his pole and moving quickly onto the rooftops of Paris. Scorpion pulled out something that looked similar--except with one very sharp, very pointed end--and followed, keeping pace easily as they disappeared from view. Ladybug sighed, then looked back to Coyote.

"Come on, we've got to go before that girl gets past the police." She told her, watching Alya try and sneak around a police car. She _definitely_ did not want to do an interview right now. Pulling out her yo-yo, she swung the ends a couple times, but stuttered when the girl latched onto her arm.

Coyote shrugged, offering the same wide smile. "Figured it'd be easier if you just carried me off into the sunset." Ladybug rolled her eyes, spinning it around again to regain momentum before she hooked it and sent them swinging away. Coyote giggled the whole way home, and Ladybug wondered idly if she should have just let Scorpion come with her instead.

\----

Chat swung himself into his window just in time, the black smoke effect that always swallowed his body in transformation peeling away right as he somersaulted across the floor. He landed in a crouch, watching as Plagg immediately slumped onto the floor with a groan.

Scorpion landed lightly on his feet behind Adrien, closing the window behind him. He stood awkwardly by the window, watching silently as Adrien stood up and dusted himself off. He readjusted the collar of his shirt, waiting for Scorpion to say something first. After all, he _was_ the one who had some explaining to do. However, after a few seconds of awkward silence, it was apparent that he wasn't going to be the one saying anything.

"Uh, you can--relax, I guess." Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. "Considering you know my real identity now, I might as well see yours. Eye for an eye, or something, right?"

Scorpion nodded minutely, and after closing his eyes, the dark grey cloud swept around him much faster than Adrien's ever did. It happened in the blink of an eye, and he was left staring at what was apparently just a normal teenager. Granted, he had cheekbones that could give several of the models he knew a run for their money, and his red t-shirt was maybe a bit too tight around his arms, but Adrien was pleasantly surprised at how normal he looked. The boy only had a few inches and pounds of muscle on Adrien, but he looked like he could have gone to any of the schools around here. It was reassuring, knowing that it was just another random kid and not some professional hero.

"Leo." He stated shortly, offering his hand out, and Adrien, polite to his core, shook it.

"Adrien." 

The other boy nodded, subconsciously tucking the necklace that held his miraculous inside his shirt. On his shoulder, a small, black, bug-looking creature sat, the same size as Plagg. _A kwami?_ Leo caught his gaze and supplied, "Serron."

"Nice to meet you, Serron." Adrien grinned, waving, and Leo nodded. Serron jumped off of Leo's shoulder and zoomed forward to Adrien, stopping just a couple inches in front of his face.

"Hello, Adrien!" He started in perfect French--much smoother than Leo's. "My, it's been a long time since I've seen a miraculous holder in this part of the world. Hello, Plagg! It's been a while!" Plagg waved sleepily, but the little creature kept on going. "You're pretty young, aren't you? I figured they'd stop going such young people for this, but hey, start em young and they'll get better! I mean, that's why Leo was picked! And his friend, who apparently you guys are hiding your identities from. That's so strange, the secrets. Makes me wonder how you two get anything done! In fact, I remember when Leo--"

"Serron." Leo stated quietly, and Serron just smiled widely before turning back to Adrien. 

"Sorry, he's not much of a talker. Or any fun, apparently. I'll leave you two to it! Hey, Plagg, what's up? Let's go get some food. I haven't been to Paris in ages, show me around!" He zoomed down, scooping up Plagg and whisking him towards the window. To Adrein's surprise, Plagg went along with it, which either meant he was that tired or he really wasn't all that bothered by the other kwami. "I'm sure there's even better food now and plenty of different kinds and probably better cheese and…" His voice faded out as the two flew through the window, and suddenly, it was silent again. Adrien looked to Leo, who just stared back at him, face in the same expression it had been since they met.

"So…" Adrien started, shifting on his feet. "Quite the talker, that Serron, huh?"

Leo shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah." Adrien waited, but Leo didn't say anything else. He sighed. It was going to be a long night.

\----

"You have to stay quiet!" Ladybug hissed, crouching down on her balcony, low enough that if anyone walked by on the street below, they wouldn't see Ladybug up there. Coyote, on the other hand, had just plopped down on the ground, smiling at Ladybug with her legs splayed out on either side of her, feet swinging idly side to side.

"What, your parents don't let you have friends over?" She snorted, and Ladybug narrowed her eyes.

"I see the language barrier doesn't stop sarcasm." Coyote only grinned wider, and Ladybug sighed, sitting down as well, but pulled her knees to her chest. "And I _can,_ just usually not this late on a school night."

Coyote shrugged. "Fair enough. I can always hide on the roof or something if they do come up." She reached down to itch around her anklet, looking pointedly at Ladybug's legs. "So...we've been here about ten minutes now. You feel like changing back yet?"

"No." She grumbled, pulling her knees closer. She and Chat had always kept it a secret. How could she be expected to change in front of someone she had just met a half an hour ago?

Coyote rolled her eyes. "You have to change back eventually!" At Ladybug's look, she sighed, holding her hands out in a placating gesture. "Look, I'll do it first, just to show that there's no angry--no bad feelings. Okay?" She paused, and when Ladybug still didn't say anything, she shrugged, mumbling in English, "Here goes."

There was a subtle glow of a dove grey color that started at her feet and rolled up her body, looking much smoother than it had ever felt for Ladybug. First to pop out were two sneakered feet, followed by colorful leggings and a loose-fitting v-neck that still somehow managed to be super cute and flattering. Ladybug would have to check out the stitching later. The earthy brown ponytail stayed, and as the mask disappeared, freckled, olive skin came to life, amber eyes still holding that same sparkle within them. Above her right ankle, a tiny kwami hovered, small and grey and smiling. 

"See? Not so bad." Coyote smiled, then waved. "I'm Sofia. This here is Atiit." Atiit waved, tiny tail twitching.

Ladybug still hesitated, but she could feel Tikki growing impatient, almost like an itch just behind her ears. "Fine." She twisted her mouth and closed her eyes, letting the transformation process go. It hitched a couple times, enough that she felt embarrassed after Sofia's easy transition, but then she was left bare in front of Sofia. She felt Tikki settle on one of her knees, waving politely.

"Atiit! Hello! It's so good to see you again!"

Marinette opened one eye out of surprise. "You guys know each other?"

"Well, it has been a while." Tikki giggled, then shot a look at Atiit, who flew over to her. "But yes! We've been friends forever!"

Marinette looked across the balcony to Sofia, who was now slouching sideways with her legs tucked under her. The sunset-purple leggings faded to blues at the bottoms and more of a red up top, giving her a soft look overall, much like if a creme brulee and a marshmallow had a lovechild. She smiled back pleasantly and didn't look the least bit tired after fighting an akuma. Sure, she looked trustworthy, but could Marinette really just open up to her?

"I promise, I've got all the answers." Sofia stated before Marinette could say anything. "Might have to get google translate going, but for the most part, I can answer pretty much anything you throw my way." Her smile was soft and genuine, not as in-your-face as it was earlier, and Marinette wondered vaguely if it was part of her Coyote persona. Marinette had always been more confident as Ladybug, less afraid to take the reins and follow her instincts. Was Coyote more of a people-person than Sofia was?

Marinette sighed. If anything, she owed her a chance. Everyone deserved one chance, even random strangers who appear falling out of the sky. Slowly, she stood, giving Sofia a careful look.

"Alright, you can stay." Sofia beamed at her, and Marinette pointed a careful finger. "You have to hide up here, though. I'm going to go eat dinner with my parents, pretend it's a normal Thursday night and that I don't have some stranger on our balcony, and then when I get back up here, I'm asking probably a hundred questions."

Sofia nodded. "Deal. And if you could snag me some food, I wouldn't say no." 

Marinette rolled her eyes and dropped down out of the balcony into her room. It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol i have no idea if i'm gonna continue this. i just really like the idea of all the relationship dynamics and the lore behind the kwamis. SO i'm gonna make some up and make everyone happy.
> 
> title from 'adventure of a lifetime' by coldplay


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whats an update schedule

"I hope this is fine. The kitchen doesn't really keep leftovers around." Adrien offered sheepishly, setting the two plates of food down on a table in his room. "I've gotten them to donate whatever we don't eat, so this is just something the chef whipped up real quick."

Scorpion looked up-- _no, his name was Leo._ Adrien kicked himself mentally. This was going to take some adjusting. He kind of figured when he met Ladybug it'd be the same thing, having to take some time to adjust to calling her by her real name. He never thought he'd meet someone _else_ with a miraculous, though.

Leo looked down at the food and smirked, then pulled out his phone and typed something in. After a second, he looked back up and replied, "This is fine. Thank you very much."

Adrien smirked as he sat on the other end of the couch. "Is your French not as good as Coyote's?" He picked up his fork and pulled the plate onto his lap. Things to tell or not, he was hungry.

Leo shook his head, following Adrien's lead and eating. "No. It's because of our different miraculouses. She...uh, turns better?" He paused, then typed something else into his phone. "Adapts. She's better at adapting to different things."

Adrien paused. "You get different abilities from different miraculouses?"

Leo stared at him. After a minute, he said with his mouth full of bread, "Uh. Cataclysm. Ladybug doesn't have that, right?"

Adrien blinked, then grinned. "Oh, yeah. Guess not. So...I'm better at breaking things and she's better at fixing them?"

Leo nodded as he swallowed, looking back down to his phone. "Yeah, pretty much. Your two are different than ours, I think, but the other two people we had were similar. Every miraculous has a counterpart, a working duo. Each pair is creation and destruction, neither good nor bad, but together, complete." He crinkled his nose. "I feel like such a stiff trying to describe this."

Adrien shook his head, eyes wide. "No, you're doing fine. Keep going." When Leo gave him another look, he smiled reassuringly, and Leo shrugged one shoulder.

"Just weird you two don't know this, it's the first thing we learned." Leo mumbled, then continued. "So, like I said, each pair is creation and destruction, and then you have one more piece to make you equal with your counterpart. I'm not totally positive what you two are yet, but...Coyote said she'd text me soon." He stammered, and Adrien let the slip-up slide. He didn't want to push him into revealing his partner's identity, especially when his own was so reluctant to do so. "She thought she knew. Anyways, she's creation and I'm destruction, if that wasn't obvious. Our other abilities are change and stability." He paused, typing something into his phone, then nodded to himself and muttered a bit before continuing. 

"She's change. She's the one who can capture the akumas and change them back into forces of good. Her weapons can be literally anything, which comes with her abilities. She can find anything and use it to defeat the akuma. Mine is stability. I have one solid weapon--"

"Your spear, right?" Adrien interrupted, enrapt, and Leo smirked at him.

"Yeah, the spear. My special ability causes things to freeze in place, to be unable to move. Because of that, I'm more of a grounded person, I have better fighting technique, I'm harder to lie to, whatever." He waved his hand. "Yet she completes the other half of that. She can adapt to any situation, can change anything to her favor, learn things...uh, fast?"

"Quicker." Adrien supplied helpfully, and Leo nodded his thanks.

"So, the two halves become whole. Opposite side of a coin. That's how our miraculouses work." He pushed away the empty plate. "Often, one miraculous can't work without their other in play, or if they do, they can't perform to their full ability, which is why they're usually given and retired at the same time." He looked back to Adrien. "Except for in special cases, like now, when so many miraculouses are missing."

Adrien glanced down at his half-eaten plate, forgotten. "You said earlier that there were more of us. What...where are they?" He looked up to Leo, who avoided his gaze.

"Yeah. About that."

\----

"That was literally the best croissant I have ever had." Sofia crowed, leaning back against the garden wall. "Seriously, how lucky am I that you happen to have the best bakers in France as parents?"

Marinette smirked, "Keep your voice down! We'll be even luckier if your shouting doesn't give us away."

Sofia turned to grin at her. It was past sunset now, the first of the stars coming out in the night sky above them. Tikki and Atiit were off to one side of the balcony, catching up while they lounged on one of Marinette's plants. Two empty pastry boxes sat on a low stool, leaving Marinette and Sofia sitting on the ground. In the dim light, she couldn't make out Sofia's expressions as well, but she doubted they'd changed much from the excited smiles she was tossing around earlier.

"Something tells me we won't have to worry about our luck with you, bug." Sofia said in a teasing voice, miraculously keeping her voice down. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Marinette snorted, crossing her legs under her while Sofia leaned more comfortably against the wall. Sofia had her phone out and balanced on her leg, Google translate open and ready, but so far, she hadn't needed it. If anything, her French had gotten better the longer they spoke over dinner.

"Okay, so like I explained, there's two parts to every miraculous." Sofia started, and Marinette waved her off.

"Yeah, yeah, we're all creation or destruction, I got that." Marinette frowned. She was still having trouble adjusting to the idea that there were more than just her and Chat out there.

"Well, like Scorp and I are change and stability, you and Chat are something, too!" She grinned, picking one leg up to cross it over the other. "You got one guess."

"You _have_ one guess." Marinette corrected automatically, but Sofia just shrugged, waiting. She looked down at her hands, trying to think. Sofia had mentioned luck quite a few times. Everyone knew black cats were bad luck, so did that make her…

"We're good and bad luck?" Marinette scrunched her nose, ignoring Sofia's excited cheer. "But what does that have to do with fighting bad guys?"

"What would change and stability have to do with that?" Sofia countered, making Marinette frown. She smiled. "Alright, I know you're annoyed with me, but you're adorable when you're mad." Marinette just frowned harder, and Sofia rolled her eyes. "Look, it's not all about fighting bad guys, Mari. It's more about...balance, I guess. Keeping things in check, making sure the good doesn't outweigh the bad and vice versa."

She let the nickname slide, more interested in what Sofia was talking about. "Why shouldn't there be more good in the world?"

"If there was no bad, how would we know what's good?" Sofia responded automatically, adding a casual shrug when Marinette looked away. "Like I said, it's balance. Dark is not inherently bad, and we need light to figure out what's dark. I don't know, it's some yin yang shit, but when you've been doing this for a while, it starts to make sense."

"I've been doing this for two years." She huffed in response, watching as Sofia picked up her phone with a small smile. "Are you telling me that's not long enough to figure it all out?"

Sofia glanced up from her phone. "Scorp says I'm probably right about the good and bad luck thing, by the way." Marinette stared at her, waiting for an answer. Sofia sighed, finishing up the text before turning back her full attention to Marinette. "I think it's less that you haven't figured it out and more that you haven't been told."

"What's that supposed to mean? We're supposed to have some mysterious guide who gives us all the answers?" 

Sofia blinked at her. "Kind of, yeah." 

Marinette waved her hand to the sky dismissively with a sigh. "We got these powers two years ago with no help, no guide, no nothing. Tikki has never told me anything about some teacher waiting on us, and Chat would probably have said something if he knew." She looked back from Tikki and Atiit to Sofia, who was looking at her with something close to sympathy. "We've saved Paris countless times over, and even a couple of the smaller towns when there was a rare akuma out there. It's just been me and Chat, us against the world, us two by ourselves. In two years, how has _no one_ come to let us know that they've been supposed to be helping us?"

Sofia chewed on her lip, watching Marinette carefully. She got the feeling that she was about to be told some bad news, and she wasn't sure if she could handle that right now.

"You said there were others like you." Marinette tried carefully instead. "Who are they? _Where_ are they?"

Sofia looked away, leaning back against the wall with her knees up, palms flat on the ground. "Scorp and I said we were from the Southwestern United States. Down there, there are supposed to be six of us that work together to keep the akumas clean. Scorpion and I are the only two active ones right now. There's a third, Badger, but he's gotten too old to keep going out on missions and instead just runs thing while he looks for his replacement. The other three were...taken." Sofia sighed heavily, and Marinette adjusted so that she was leaning against the wall as well, listening to her.

"We've been doing this for about as long as you have, a little over two years. We started when we were 14, and Badger trained us on how to use our miraculouses. A few years before we got them, though, there was...some sort of...incident. A, uh. An attack." She stammered, brushing past the broken sentence. "Three miraculouses were stolen by someone that he had never seen before, someone whose own miraculous had changed. They became the inversion of their ability, and when that happens, it's bad news." Sofia held out her hands as she tried to explain. "We keep things in balance in our respective regions. So when there's two of the same aspect, there's an imbalance, and it makes things go bad. The guy who took them, he was Butterfly, I'm pretty sure." She paused. "Papillon? That's French for Butterfly, right?" Marinette nodded, and Sofia continued, although less confidently. "He was supposed to be...shit." She muttered in English, then switched back. "I have no idea how to describe this. Basically, he could...influence people? I guess? Get them to listen to their inner emotions, follow through on courageous acts or happiness or love or selflessness, that kind of thing. But when he turned…"

"He could get them to do things that followed through on their anger." Marinette whispered, blue eyes wide. "On their hate." Sofia only nodded sadly, and Marinette finished for her, "He became Hawkmoth."

Sofia nodded again. "He has three of our miraculouses, and two from a group we stay in contact with in Africa. Badger knew them when he was young and kept in touch. He tried to warn them about Hawkmoth, but even when they were prepared, they still lost two. We believe Hawkmoth has the others that are supposed to be here as well."

Marinette slumped her back against the wall, stunned. There were so many more miraculouses, and again, it was Hawkmoth, ruining everything. There were more of them, there were supposed to be more people out there risking their lives and helping. _They weren't supposed to be the only ones._

"Badger sent Scorp and I over here to help you guys fight him. Elephant's supposed to be sending one or two up as well, but for some reason, it's not as easy to find replacements as it used to be." Sofia continued, oblivious to Marinette's inner monologue. "I know Cheetah's most likely coming, he's only a couple years older than us, but for some reason, they've lost contact with a lot of other groups over the years." Sofia shrugged. "There'll be at least five of us in town soon, maybe more!"

"So...we're not alone?" Marinette said quietly, still looking up at the night sky above her. The stars twinkled back silently as Sofia shifted next to her.

"Well, technically, right now you are. Because Hawkmoth has the other ones."

Marinette snapped her head to look over at her, but Sofia pushed on, smile bright and reassuring. "But don't worry! That's what Scorpion and I are here for. We're here to help you retrieve them and get them back!"

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Marinette groaned. "I still have to go to school, you know."

Sofia's smile faltered for a second, and she sighed loudly, slumping next to Marinette. "Right. That." Her phone chimed on her leg, signaling a text from Scorpion, who, Marinette noticed, simply had the scorpion emoji as his contact name. She couldn't help but read the text, and immediately went on the defensive.

"No. Absolutely not."

"Aw, come on!" Sofia frowned, not at all bothered by the invasion of privacy. "It's a great idea!" 

Marinette stared at her, eye twitching, trying to come up with the words for a thousand reasons why this wasn't a good idea.

\----

"No, you can't go to school with me!" Adrien protested, looking up from the couch. Leo was perched on the armrest, looking down at him with his typical blank stare.

"Why not?" Leo waved his phone. "Coyote thinks it's a good idea, and we need to get moving as soon as possible." 

"Well, you and Coyote are comfortable with each other! You know about your identities!" Adrien ran a hand through his hair, wildly wishing Plagg was here to back him up. Who was he kidding, Plagg would never back him up on this. "If you came to school with me, my cover would totally be blown!" His mind raced. "What if Ladybug goes to my school! If she sees me show up with some new guy right after the attack, then she'll know I'm Chat! Oh, god, and Alya was there, she'll probably put the pieces together even faster. No, no, I can't just show up with someone, they'll know--"

"Whoa, dude." Leo looked flustered, making the first full face expression Adrien had seen from him since they met. It was enough to make Adrien quiet down, although he still fiddled with his ring. "Okay. Uh." Leo looked around like he wanted someone to tell him what to do as well, and Adrien felt a bit of camaraderie that apparently they were both a little helpless without their kwamis. "Here. I'll tell--Coyote, that Chat's sending me to stay with a friend during the day. That way, Coyote and Ladybug, if they do see some random new kid, will know that you're a friend of Chat's. That's it."

Adrien paused, looking down at his ring. Would that work? He liked to think Ladybug was smarter than that, but maybe she would trust the information since it was coming from Coyote. 

Oh, man. This was going to be terrible, wasn't it?"

"Your fault for not coming clean, dude." Leo mumbled, chewing on his thumbnail while he typed with his other hand. Adrien slumped back into the cushions, puffing out a sigh. Yeah. This was definitely his fault.

\----

"Okay, look." Sofia held up her hands placatingly, trying to calm Marinette down but afraid to get anywhere near her whirlwind of limbs. A few feet away, Tikki and Atiit were watching and giggling to themselves, absolutely useless. Marinette continued to pace, arms hovering between pulling at her hair or wrapping themselves around her body.

"Yo, Mari, can you sit down? Just for a second?" Sofia waved her phone to catch Marinette's attention, and she slowed, but only minutely. "Look, Chat sent Scorpion to go stay with one of his friends. So, even if he does show up at your school, it's not gonna be with Chat. Better?"

Marinette hesitated, then nodded, leaning against the railing of the balcony. "What about me, though? They'll still probably recognize if you show up with me."

Sofia pondered for a moment, then nodded to herself. "We'll say I didn't stay with you. I'll tell Scorpion that I showed up in town as someone's American cousin. That'll work."

Marinette stared at her, unconvinced. She asked flatly, "Will it?"

Sofia smirked. "He thinks my ability of change can influence people's thoughts and opinions of me, when actually, I'm just a really good liar." She grinned when Marinette frowned. "So, it'll work! He'll just think I forced my way into some random teenager's house. Sound good?"

Marinette still paused, looking down at her shoes. She really didn't think this was going to work. Like, at all. From the ground, Sofia asked quietly, "Would it really be the worst thing to find out who Chat really is?"

"Yes." She answered solidly, not meeting Sofia's eyes. 

Sofia shrugged, looking back to her phone. "Fine, I'll let him know. We'll discuss the secret identity thing over lunch or something."

Marinette groaned, leaning her head back. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

She really, really wished she wouldn't keep thinking that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi here's a short update!! i've been working on publishing a real life novel, so that's been taking up some time lol. hopefully i can get back into the swing of things and get this story going again!

"I'm serious, no hero talk at school." Marinette hissed, walking around the corner with Sofia. The other girl just shrugged, hiking her backpack back up over her shoulder. She had slipped off sometime during the night to retrieve her things, and apparently showing up with a backpack was her way of going undercover at school. "There's not as many students as what you're probably used to, so you're going to have to be careful what you say."

"Chill, Mari." Sofia snorted, making Marinette roll her eyes. She was picking up on the slang way too quickly. "I know how to be sneaky. You don't have to worry about anything." She winked, making Marinette sigh as they finally came around to the front of the building.

Immediately, someone was yelling at her.

"Mari! MARINETTE!"

Sofia blinked in surprise, and Marinette flinched. Oh, boy. "Here we go…"

"Mari!!!!" Alya practically tackled Marinette in a hug, quickly moving back to hold her phone up in Marinette's face. "Did you see the blog post last night?!"

"Of course I saw it!" Marinette giggled awkwardly, taking a step back as she blushed. "That was some crazy video you got. Not a whole lot of the akuma, but, you know--"

"The akuma's not the important part!" Alya snorted, shaking her phone again. "It's the other superheroes!"

Marinette giggled uncomfortably again, making Sofia roll her eyes behind her. "The who now?"

Alya groaned. "You totally didn't see it. Look!" She clicked on her phone, and a video started playing. The sound was mostly the police officer trying to tell her to get back, but in the background of the picture, she could clearly see where Ladybug and Chat Noir were having an intense conversation with none other than Coyote and Scorpion. It looked like it was right around the part where Coyote started freaking out about them not knowing each other's identities. "Two more heroes! No one on the forums has ever seen them before! Granted, it's only been half a day, so more will come out of the woodwork by the end of the week, but it's only a matter of time." She shrugged, then hit Marinette's shoulder softly. "I can't believe you didn't see it! What could you possibly have been doing all night that kept you so occupado?"

"Uh." Marinette blinked, then gestured vaguely behind her, stepping to the side. "My cousin came into town, actually." Sofia leaned over, waving quickly.

"Hello!"

"Cousin?" Alya asked, then looked back to Marinette. "I thought all your cousins lived in China…?" She gave a curious glance to Sofia, who definitely did not look Chinese.

"Oh, no, dad's side." Marinette quickly said. "He had a younger brother that went to America. They came by to visit last night. I can't believe I forgot to tell you! They'll be staying with me for a while. We had a huge family dinner. Lasted all night, pretty much." Sofia lifted an eyebrow, impressed at her quick thinking but amused by how terrible the execution was. 

"Who's staying at Marinette's house?"

The three girls turned to where Nino was walking up, bag slung over one shoulder casually. He grinned, giving Alya a quick hug when she greeted him.

"Hey, babe." She waved to Sofia. "This is Marinette's cousin. She's from the US."

"Hey, nice to meet you." Nino offered his hand, which Sofia took. "I'm Nino, this is Alya, if you haven't figured out by now." Alya elbowed him in the side, and Sofia grinned.

"Sofia, nice to meet you guys."

"She's still working on her French." Marinette hastily said, and Nino shrugged.

"Seems pretty good to me!"

"So! Nino." Marinette quickly asked, trying to get the subject off of Sofia. "Doesn't Adrien usually give you a ride to school?"

"Oh, yeah." Nino nodded easily, and Marinette sighed internally in relief, ignoring Alya's look beside him. "He said he had to go pick someone up this morning. I think one of his model friends is gonna be shadowing him this week or something." Marinette froze beside her, brows slowly drawing together on her forehead.

"Did you say--"

"Another model?"

A shriek interrupted them, and the group turned to see Chloe standing nearby, Sabrina hovering at her elbow. The look on her face was utter surprise. "Did you say Adrien's bringing another model to school?"

Nino looked confused. "Uh, yeah?"

Chloe stomped her foot. "And he didn't tell me first?!" She huffed, "Typical, his friend isn't going to have any idea how to handle himself, I'm going to have to do it all for him--" She cut herself off, eyes widening. "They're here! Come on, Sabrina!" She stormed off towards the front, where Marinette turned to see a familiar black car pull up. 

"Damn." Sofia muttered. "Rich kid central."

Marinette whined something that sounded like words, but Sofia wasn't sure. Waiting until Alya and Nino had moved off to follow Chloe, she lifted her head to hear Marinette better. "Come again?"

Marinette was frozen, watching the car doors open. "Chat knows Adrien."

Sofia looked back and forth between the car and Marinette, and blinked. "Oh! This is the guy that Chat sent Scorp to?" She grinned. "Cool! Since you know him already, our introduction will be a breeze." She hooked her arm through Marinette's, pulling them towards the car.

Marinette scrabbled against her pull, but she was too strong. Weirdly strong, if she was being honest. "Sofia, no! I can't just talk to him!"

"You're friends, aren't you?" Sofia snorted, and Marinette floundered.

"Well, kind of, I guess. We've been acquaintances since we met when we were in middle school, but he's more of Nino's friend, and so kind of Alya's, I mean we've hung out, but never just the two of us, and we're not really--"

"Enough not really's." Sofia plowed over her, stopping just behind where Nino and Alya were waiting. "We're talking to him."

"Adrien!" Chloe's shrill voice called as soon as his foot appeared on the asphalt. She immediately dropped the cold look, going for more of a flirty one. "You didn't tell me you were bringing a friend to school today!"

A boy stepped out of the car, a little on the taller side and with incredible blonde hair. Sofia lifted an eyebrow, easily seeing why he was a model. She glanced to Marinette, who stood frozen next to her, fingers digging holes into Sofia's arm. The boy looked over in their direction, and Sofia had to slap a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. There was literally no mistaking those green eyes. Oh, Marinette was so oblivious. Oh, man. This was going to be hilarious.

"Hey, Chloe." The boy--who must have been Adrien--waved, coming over to her. "Yeah, kind of a last minute deal. He was in town for a shoot this week and I said he could stay with me." Then he looked back, gesturing to where Leo was now stepping out of the car. "This is Leo."

Leo shut the door slowly, obviously uncomfortable with the look Chloe was giving him. As if sensing his awkwardness, Adrien waved him over and led him to Nino. "Leo, these are my friends! This is Chloe, that's Nino and his girlfriend Alya, and that's--" He stuttered a bit, a warm smile lighting up his face. "And that's Marinette."

"Hi." She squeaked, and Sofia kicked her subtly in the shin. Wincing, Marinette stood straighter. "Hi! Adrien, hi, good morning!" With another kick, she pointed to Sofia, who she was still holding onto. "This is my cousin Sofia. She's staying with me for a few days."

Leo's eyebrows lifted in amusement, but Adrien just smiled and waved. "Hey, Sofia! Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too! And you, Leo." She grinned, waving, and Adrien brightened up.

"Oh! Are you American, too?" He turned. "Leo's from New Mexico! So you will have someone to speak English with."

Leo smirked, face settling back to neutral as Sofia grinned. "Perfect."

A bell rang inside, and Adrien fell into step beside Nino, who immediately launched into questions from some show they were watching together. Chloe hovered around Leo, trying to talk to him, but he was walking with Marinette and Sofia, shooting a weighted gaze to Marinette.

Marinette blushed. So that's Scorpion. "Nice to meet you, Leo."

"You too, Marinette." He answered, and she couldn't help it as she glanced back to Adrien, who seemed totally unbothered by anything. Just how did he know Chat Noir?

 

\----

 

"When did you get into town, Leo?" Alya asked over lunch that day, eagerly sliding her stuff onto the bench next to her so that Chloe wouldn't be tempted to try and sit with them. She had fired off enough questions in the hallway between classes, and it was easy to tell Leo was stressing out about it.

"A couple days ago." Adrien answered instead, laughing. "We're working on an ad for a--a shoe company! He's big in the states for Adidas or something." Leo smirked, and Sofia leaned forward, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Really? You're a foot model?"

Leo smiled at her, and Alya nudged Marinette under the table before leaning over. "Those two really hit it off, didn't they?"

Marinette watched as Sofia giggled, sighing silently. "You have no idea." In classes, they had been fine, but the two were being kind of obvious about being friends already. Was she sure no one would suspect them? She shot another glance to Adrien, who seemed totally oblivious to the two, other than acknowledging they were friendly. If he knew Chat, who had brought him Scorpion, then surely he'd know about Coyote as well! How had he not put it together? Or, did he know Chat's secret identity? Were they friends outside of the hero work? Or was it just Scorpion's identity he knew?

Adrien glanced at her, offering a small smile. Marinette blushed and looked back down to her lunch. Maybe she was thinking too hard about this. She had decided to give Sofia a chance, right? A chance included trusting her. So, trust her she would.

A rumble shook the ground, making everyone look up. Adrien mumbled something like, "Uh, bathroom," before he stood, and immediately, Alya had her phone out, standing up and scanning the courtyard where they were eating. 

"Do you think it's an akuma?"

Nino rolled his eyes and picked his sandwich back up. "Babe, they're not all akumas. Sometimes the buildings just shake."

"Usually because of an akuma," she protested, then grabbed her bag as another rumble shook the table this time. "Alright, I'm gonna go find out." She took off in the direction it seemed to be coming from, leaving Nino to sigh.

"Do I have to go after her?" He asked Marinette, who smiled awkwardly.

"You were the one who decided to date her."

Nino nodded, packing away his lunch with resignation. "You're right." After another second, he too walked away, leaving Marinette with Sofia and Leo at the table, who were looking at her expectantly.

"Nino's right," she told them. "Sometimes they're not akumas, it's just a weird rumble."

A door exploded off its hinges down the hallway, an evil laughter following in its wake. Sofia and Leo both turned to Marinette, smiling. Marinette groaned.

"Okay, it's an akuma. But really, you should just let Chat and I--" She stopped, watching as Sofia and Leo were already sprinting off to a different hallway where no one was. She frowned, getting up to follow. "God, why do I even try?" Whipping around the corner and shutting herself into a closet, she shouted, "Tikki, spots on!"

So, school was a disaster. Not that she had expected anything else, really.

**Author's Note:**

> lol i have no idea if i'm gonna continue this. i just really like the idea of all the relationship dynamics and the lore behind the kwamis. SO i'm gonna make some up and make everyone happy.
> 
> title from 'adventure of a lifetime' by coldplay


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